Though Trak was terrible at telling lies, he had a pretty good baloney detector.
But, in addition to being able to locate any deli meat within a thousand miles, he also had a knack for telling when someone was lying.
Trak had never told Daniel about that. He always tried to protect Daniel — even when Daniel didn’t want Trak keeping an eye on him —and it helped to hide his skill from his friend.
Trak had even fooled Rachel-7 into thinking he was social simpleton.
Aside from sarcasm, which he still had trouble identifying, he was very accurate at detecting lies in creatures he'd known for a while (94.2 percent) and reasonably accurate when it came to creatures he had just met (75.2 percent).
One of the few times Daniel had lied and Trak hadn't picked up, Trak had turned on the Z-Click cannon, causing the explosion that somehow led he and his friends to Stuck Station.
Despite that small error, Trak felt a 94.2 percent accuracy was something to be proud of.
As such, Trak felt confident the Aye wasn’t intentionally lying.
It honestly thought it was providing the correct information and -- however delusional the belief -- thought it was being “helpful.”
The Tour Guide said, “Since you are standing here, I can assume you passed all the exams your species required of you to allow you to join the ranks of Containment Facility One staff.”
Exams? Trak thought.
“Don’t worry,” Tour Guide whispered, in a voice that was somehow both sunny and conspiratorial. “No more tests from this point on.”
“That’s … good,” Trak said, not understanding. “What is the facility’s purpose?”
“Please hold all questions until the end of the tour.”
“Where is the facility located?”
“Please hold all questions until the end of the tour.”
“Why am I here?”
“Please hold all questions until the end of the tour.”
Trak nodded, another human gesture he’d picked up from Daniel. The Tour Guide was done giving out free information.
“Now,” it said, “would you like to continue the tour?”
Trak didn’t respond.
He had just made another 30,429 examinations of a prospective action and had already resumed firing.
###
“Please do not discharge your weapons in the hallway,” the Aye said 17 minutes later, for the 47th time. “The Captain is approaching.”
Trak instantly retracted his weaponry.
